A number of references disclose shortenings and foods made with polyol polyesters. For example, Mattson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,186, issued Aug. 17, 1971, discloses low calorie fat-containing food compositions wherein from about 10% to about 100% of the total fat is a sugar or sugar alcohol polyester having at least 4 fatty acid ester groups, with each fatty acid having from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms. The polyesters are said to be useful as a partial or complete replacement for normal triglyceride fat in salad or cooking oils, or plastic shortenings for use in frying, cake making, bread making, or the like. A plastic shortening is disclosed made with 50% sucrose octastearate.
Mattson U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,083, issued July 5, 1977, discloses polyol fatty acid polyesters having at least four fatty acid ester groups that are fortified with fat-soluble vitamins and used in food or pharmaceutical compositions for treating and/or preventing hypercholesterolemia. Cooking oils and plastic shortenings are specifically mentioned.
In Jandacek et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,005,195 and 4,005,196, issued Jan. 25, 1977, polyol polyesters such as sucrose polyesters are used in combination with fat-soluble vitamins and anti-anal leakage agents to provide food and pharmaceutical compositions for treating and/or preventing hypercholesterolemia. The patents contain claims for food compositions in which the polyol polyesters and anti-anal leakage agents comprise 10% to 100% of the total fat ingredients.
Robbins et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,782, issued July 24, 1984, discloses low calorie baked products comprising from about 12% to about 60% liquid polyol polyester and from about 25% to about 85% microcrystalline cellulose or a mixture of microcrystalline cellulose and flour in a weight ratio of cellulose to flour of at least 1:1. The examples disclose cakes and wafers.
Wolkstein U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,441, issued Dec. 2, 1986, describes sweetener-bulking agent compositions suitable for use in dietetic frozen desserts. The sweetener comprises mixtures of aspartame with other dietetic sweeteners. Sucrose polyester is among the group of possible bulking agents. A mellorine frozen dessert is made with 0.4-16% sucrose polyester.
Hollenbach et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,213, issued Jan. 11, 1983, discloses milkshake-like beverages prepared by mixing sucrose polyester emulsions with edible liquids such as skim milk or buttermilk. For example, a beverage can be prepared from 100 grams of skim milk and 40 grams of an emulsion made up of 50% liquid sucrose polyester, 5% cocoa butter, 0.8% polyglycerol ester, 1.5% 2,3-butanediol monopalmitate, and 15% sucrose.
While these references disclose shortenings made with polyol polyesters, none of the references addresses the problem of reducing graininess in those shortenings. In addition, none of the references recognizes that polyol polyesters can be combined with natural and synthetic flavor systems in foods to enhance their overall flavor display and appreciation.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide shortenings made with polyol polyesters.
It is another object of the present invention to make shortenings that are creamy instead of grainy.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide food compositions in which the flavor is enhanced by the addition of sucrose polyesters.
These and other objects of the invention will become evident from the disclosure herein.
All percentages are by weight unless otherwise defined.